I am not aware of any Stay At Home Dads on here, but I will be a temp one in February and March with my new daughter (who will be 5-6 months). I have a very mediocre job that I am not in the slightest going to miss, and as this will be our last child, want to maximize my time with them any way I can.

So, as 5-6 months old don't need a ton of interaction, I imagine I will have some free time to fill. I have several movies I plan on watching, and a few games on Steam I haven't gotten around to: The Cat Lady and Deus Ex Human Revolution. I don't have Netflix/HBO and am not good at binge-watching TV shows, which I know is often a recommendation for people with lots of free time.

Focus: A) Discuss being a SAHD/M B) Recommend me video games to play or things to do around the house.

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"Nostalgia is just the ability to forget the things that sucked" - Nelson DeMille, 'Up Country'

I'm not a SAHD, but as a 39 year old bachelor, I have plenty of free time to myself. I suggest the Dark Souls video game series. You'll find it more challenging than trying to convince your wife to have a four way with her and your two dream women. But when you succeed, it is SO satisfying.

Second suggestion - A board game you can play solo. My first suggestion would be Gloomhaven, but that is pretty pricy. You can get Mage Knight, Star Trek: Frontiers (it is Mage Knight in the Star Trek universe), or Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd edition (need an iPad to play solo, but the app is free) for decent prices if you look. Some games (Descent) have minis you can paint, a new hobby of mine.

Just coming off 9 months of 'stay at home' - though, no kids to tend, and mrs.jingle was also at home, so there was a lot of time together. As for stuff I did on my own - read (I re-read The Dark Tower series; am now on to The Saga of the Seven Suns by Kevin Anderson... I love his work), work-out, listen to a shit-ton of music, gaming a little, watched a lot of sports, cooked (and experimented a bit).

I was a SAHD for a month when my son was 7 months old. Since he wasn't walking yet, it was pretty easy to get random things done around the house, and also errands that need to be done during the work day. I also finished watching Breaking Bad during that time too, as well as several movies I've had on my queue for some time. Don't be like me and worry about maximizing/optimizing your time. Just enjoy being with your kid.

Edit: some mentions of gaming here. I remember spending a lot of time learning Orbiter Spaceflight Simulator, too. Very steep learning curve, and I never really got too deep. You can download add-ons for actual space vehicles and missions, including some Apollo missions. The command module control panel is complete, and you have to learn almost every switch flip and button press for a mission. It got to be more about memorizing that sequence than actually "flying" so I lost interest, but I was amazed at the level of detail.

Just coming off 9 months of 'stay at home' - though, no kids to tend, and mrs.jingle was also at home, so there was a lot of time together. As for stuff I did on my own - read (I re-read The Dark Tower series; am now on to The Saga of the Seven Suns by Kevin Anderson... I love his work), work-out, listen to a shit-ton of music, gaming a little, watched a lot of sports, cooked (and experimented a bit).

Oh, and scotch. Lots of scotch.

I was for about 9 months (though I worked part-time out of the house during that time), and this was pretty much me. Did a lot of reading, playing guitar, etc. I work out of the house for the most part, so even though I'm working I have time to do things (that would otherwise be spent in a car, etc.) I would say, though, as someone that watches my 6-month old grandson on occasion, the assumption that they 'require little supervision' is a little optimistic, except when they're sleeping. When they're awake, you're on, bro.

I was for about 9 months (though I worked part-time out of the house during that time), and this was pretty much me. Did a lot of reading, playing guitar, etc. I work out of the house for the most part, so even though I'm working I have time to do things (that would otherwise be spent in a car, etc.) I would say, though, as someone that watches my 6-month old grandson on occasion, the assumption that they 'require little supervision' is a little optimistic, except when they're sleeping. When they're awake, you're on, bro.

That's kinda what I was thinking reading this thread. I'm not a SAHD, my wife stays home with our almost 3 year old, and while it's getting better the older our daughter gets, she still requires a lot of attention. She especially did when she was under a year old.

All kids are different I guess, but our daughter always, even from a very early age, wanted to interact with my wife and I, which doesn't allow for a ton of time to chill out and watch TV or read or play video games.

I took 6 months of parental leave in 2017, and got to be at home with the Chap* from 6-12mos. I found that I had tons of free time in the first 3 months, then less so as the months passed. He started crawling at 8 months and walking at 11, so those were the two big changes that affected my free time since he needed more attention once he was mobile. Here's what I did to pass my time:

-Cleaned the house literally every day, and had dinner ready when the wife got home (this was mostly to just to see how difficult it would be to maintain for 6 months...it wasn't....at all)

-Worked out almost every day in the home gym (and now I have several lingering injuries as a result, so maybe don't do this)

-Read a ton while he napped (usually 2-3 naps per day in the beginning, down to 1 or 2 by the end)

-Played lots of guitar

-Took him out walking every day if there was no rain

Basically, I had time enough on any given day to clean, cook, play with the Chap, exercise, and still enjoy my other hobbies. My game recommendation would be X-Com: Enemy Within (not sure if it's on Steam). I don't game as much as I used to, but I still love to replay that one every year. That and COD Zombies.

I took 6 months of parental leave in 2017, and got to be at home with the Chap* from 6-12mos. I found that I had tons of free time in the first 3 months, then less so as the months passed. He started crawling at 8 months and walking at 11, so those were the two big changes that affected my free time since he needed more attention once he was mobile. Here's what I did to pass my time:

-Cleaned the house literally every day, and had dinner ready when the wife got home (this was mostly to just to see how difficult it would be to maintain for 6 months...it wasn't....at all)

Correct, it's not PC, but it's nevertheless true . I realize every child is different, and that having multiple kids at home would be more difficult, but it was seriously easy to do all the cooking, cleaning, and child rearing every day. It was more or less a 6 month vacation, and I have no trouble telling any stay at home mom the exact same thing.

I thought the Chap reference was familiar but couldn't put my finger on it. Haven't read those books in a long time.

My wife is a cleaning freak so I don't intend to need to pick up that slack any, but I do intend to keep a nice, tidy household, as well as cook dinners because I do enjoy cooking - and it gives me say over what we eat. She will also be working late for a while when she goes back and will be wiped by the time she gets home.

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"Nostalgia is just the ability to forget the things that sucked" - Nelson DeMille, 'Up Country'

Honestly, being that this will be your last, I would probably pay as much attention and soak in as much of the experience as you can. I wasn't a SAHD, but my wife and I used no help, so I was home for 2 1/2 days, and frankly, I truly miss it. I miss watching the old Thomas The Tank Engines DVDs, that sort of thing.

Correct, it's not PC, but it's nevertheless true . I realize every child is different, and that having multiple kids at home would be more difficult, but it was seriously easy to do all the cooking, cleaning, and child rearing every day. It was more or less a 6 month vacation, and I have no trouble telling any stay at home mom the exact same thing.

No need to apologize to me. I'm not arguing with you. It can be mentally tough, but it's like anything else you do in life: just do it.